Smoking Behavior Development and Modification: An Empirical Application of Three Social Psychological Theories1

Three major social psychological theories were applied to data obtained in interviews with a random sample of 50 exsmokers and 50 smokers. The objective was to test the utility of these theories with respect to smoking behavior development and change. The results provided strong support for the hypotheses derived from reference group theory and partial support for the cognitive dissonance and psychoanalytic hypotheses.     

Reconsidering three dichotomies

Certain dichotomies that are built into modern medical and psychiatric care—mind versus body, the individual versus the group, and sin versus sickness—are discussed and criticized. Judeo-Christian views regarding these issues are presented as helpful alternatives that can help set limits on the distinctions made.     

Social interest: Relating Adlerian psychology to Christian theology

Adlerian psychology begins with several assumptions congenial to the Judeo-Christian view of man-in-community. It views people holistically as responsibly pursuing goals in a social context. The social challenges of work, friendship and love hold the key to human well-being and are not incidental to it. Adlerians present some particularly helpful observations on the uses of guilt to avoid life's tasks.     

A Framework and Themes for Social Network Intervention

This paper is concerned with the development and application of social network concepts in clinical practice. A framework of network levels and sets for ordering data and observations is proposed; the phenomenon of truncated networks is considered and two emphases in network intervention (gathering and connecting forms) are proposed to conceptualize network characteristics and practice that follows from such characteristics. A number of current examples of network practice are placed within the framework, and several advantages of utilizing a network perspective as a complement to existing models of family therapy are noted.     

Dilemmas in diagnosis and treatment of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder which has an inordinate risk of being diagnosed as psychogenic in nature because of commonly shared behavioral symptomes with syndromes of psychological origin. An overview of TS is presented including its history, symptomatology, and treatment of choice. The problems and pitfalls inherent in the diagnostic process which lead to psychogenic misconceptions are discussed. Treatment considerations include the secondary emotional problems and the negative consequences of the medication for TS. The implications for training professionals are discussed, but the essential point is that without an adequate history of the onset of symptoms, the potential for misdiagnosis is dramatically increased.     

The role of maternal responsiveness in predicting infant affect during the still face paradigm with infants born very low birth weight

There is limited empirical literature addressing infants' response to a standardized stressor with infants born very low birth weight (VLBW). The purpose of this study was to assess the relative strength of maternal responsiveness in predicting infant affect in response to the Still Face (SF) paradigm in a cross‐sectional cohort of ethnically diverse infants born VLBW and their mothers (N = 50; infants 6–8 months old). Infant affect and maternal responsiveness were coded in 1‐s intervals while dyads participated in the SF. In addition, perinatal medical status, developmental status, and infant temperament were assessed. Findings revealed that positive infant affect during and after the SF stressor were strongly associated with baseline infant positive affect and maternal responsiveness at the reunion episode, respectively. In contrast, when predicting negative infant affect during and after the SF stressor, prior infant negative affect was strongly and uniquely significant. Infant positive affect, negative affect, and maternal responsiveness were not significantly associated with gender, infant perinatal medical history, developmental status, or temperament. Future research is warranted to determine how these findings relate to infants' stress reactions in naturalistic settings and if relationship‐focused interventions may reverse infant negative emotionality, enhance positive emotionality, and thereby improve self‐regulation and longer term social and cognitive developmental outcomes in medically at‐risk infants.